Subsidies galore for health insurance, group says

Mar. 15, 2014

Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Marco Rubio / Special to news-press.com

Written by

Ledyard King

The News-Press Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON

As advocates of the Affordable Care Act hustle to sign up Floridians for health insurance before the March 31 deadline, they’re arguing that the private plans available through HealthCare.gov are indeed affordable.

The League of Women Voters of Florida has begun airing radio ads across the state encouraging people to choose coverage on the online health care exchange.

The organization cites Health and Human Services figures indicating 53 percent of uninsured Floridians can buy at least a basic, or bronze-level, plan through the federal web site for $100 or less a month.

In addition, an administration report issued Tuesday shows 90 percent of Floridians who have signed up for insurance through HealthCare.gov qualified for some sort of government tax subsidy.

The national average is 83 percent.

As of Feb. 28, 442,087 state residents had accessed coverage — the largest number by far among 36 states where the federal government is either running or helping to run an online exchange where consumers can shop for health coverage.

Most people without coverage after March 31 face a possible penalty of $95 or 1 percent of income, whichever is greater.

Global warming

Sen. Bill Nelson is inviting members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to a hearing in Miami next month to discuss — and demonstrate — the perils of climate change.

The Democrat issued the invitation during a floor speech Monday as part of what some dubbed a “talkathon” featuring about 30 senators — all Democrats — discussing the need to address climate change.

Nelson has scheduled the hearing during the Senate’s April recess. He wants to show fellow lawmakers a region that has experienced flooding he says is a consequence of global warming.

“Florida is ground zero for sea-level rise,” he said during his floor speech. “We have a compelling story to tell.”

Despite the speeches by Nelson and his fellow Democrats, any major legislation to address the issue is not expected to pass soon. Most Republicans oppose action, calling the science behind climate change false and saying proposals to combat it (such as energy taxes) would cost jobs and hurt the economy.

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Global taxing

Sen. Marco Rubio wants to level the playing field when it comes to American corporations that do business overseas and end up paying foreign and domestic taxes.

The Republican is proposing a “territorial tax” system that many industrialized nationals have adopted. It’s similar to an idea Mitt Romney floated during his bid for the presidency two years ago.

As of now, Rubio said, U.S. firms operating abroad manufacture about 15-to-20 percent of products made globally.

“Under our current tax laws, if an American business makes money in Japan for example, they have to pay taxes in Japan,” he told a forum Monday hosted by the Jack Kemp Foundation at Google’s Washington headquarters. “But if they want to take the money and bring it back to America to open a new factory, they would also have to pay U.S. taxes on the same money.”

It was one of several proposals the potential 2016 presidential contender laid out during the forum as part of a larger economic innovation platform.

Rubio also spoke about expanding trade opportunities with other countries, restricting regulation by capping how much money federal agencies could spend enforcing rules, and giving commercial wireless firms greater access to the spectrum by easing government controls.

Democrats are taking issue with his territorial tax proposal, saying it would encourage businesses to export jobs.

“We had that debate in 2012 and Americans agreed with Democrats that we need to invest in jobs here at home, not create incentives for corporations to create jobs elsewhere,” said Michael Czin, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee.